More Information

Wilmington company makes saving on utilities a business

Brian Coughlan, President and founder of Utility Management Services, shown at the company’s headquarters in Wilmington, N.C. Monday, April 22, 2013. Utility Management Services, a 30-employee company based in Wilmington, N.C. that assesses clients energy use.

Published: Tuesday, April 23, 2013 at 12:52 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, April 23, 2013 at 12:52 p.m.

It didn't take long for Brian Coughlan, founder of Utility Management Services Inc. in Wilmington, to find his calling.

"Even in college I thought of myself as an energy guy," he said.

That led Coughlan to spend 15 years at Carolina Power and Light – predecessor to Progress Energy, where

he spent a lot of that time trying to save his customers money on their electric bills.

And that's the focus of his business now, which recently turned 15 years old – to save businesses sometimes big bucks on their power costs.

Utility Management Services does it by auditing firms' electric bills, checking for the customer's rate structure and patterns of usage.

Customers range from the New Hanover County Schools and the City of Wilmington to medical practices and car dealers.

They do not serve residences, however.

Apparently the work pleases his customers elsewhere – now 7,000 of them with 70,000 separate electric accounts in 23 states.

Pleasing his customers was his main job when he joined CP&L right out of Virginia Tech. His boss emphasized that.

"I got a call from my first customer," who said, " ‘Listen, I just got the biggest electric bill I've ever had,' " Coughlan recalled. The manager of a water treatment plant in Hendersonville had an electric budget of $12,000 a month and the bill had risen to $16,000.

He did some statistical modeling and data sampling and came to the conclusion if the water company treated most of its water at night and on weekends, it would save money – $25,000, or two months of bills, it turns out.

He continued his mission of pleasing the customer to the point his boss asked, "Do you have to please them that much?" It didn't hurt profit enough to keep him from eventually supervising 500 employees at the utility.

But he was always a "closet entrepreneur," Coughlan said, and started a business when he was still at CP&L.

"I was always a guy who was developing business plans and coming up with new ideas," he said. "I opened a coin-operated laundry. It did teach me about hiring, firing, payroll taxes, budgeting, utility bills, rents and bookkeeping."

Coughlan sold the business, left the utility, and broke out on his own, founding Utility Management Services.

The company now has 40 employees, most of them account managers spread out principally over the Southeast. The company's headquarters are in renovated digs on Oleander Drive near Bradley Creek.

If the company saves its customers money – it's now up to $100 million over the past 15 years, Coughlan said – how does it make money for itself?

Revenues come from a percentage of its customers' savings, but the company takes no fee if it can't cut the electric bill.

Ultility Management Services' accounts have grown 100 fold, Coughlan said. And it plans more growth. It's in the process of hiring four more full-time employees in Wilmington plus independent account managers in the field.

"We'd like to see 50 people in the next three years and revenues to double over the next five years," Coughlan said.

So, does the company get push back from the power corporations?

"A little," Coughlan said with a chuckle. "A little push back, but a pretty positive relationship."

<p>It didn't take long for Brian Coughlan, founder of Utility Management Services Inc. in Wilmington, to find his calling.</p><p>"Even in college I thought of myself as an energy guy," he said.</p><p>That led Coughlan to spend 15 years at Carolina Power and Light – predecessor to Progress Energy, where </p><p>he spent a lot of that time trying to save his customers money on their electric bills.</p><p>And that's the focus of his business now, which recently turned 15 years old – to save businesses sometimes big bucks on their power costs.</p><p>Utility Management Services does it by auditing firms' electric bills, checking for the customer's rate structure and patterns of usage.</p><p>Customers range from the New Hanover County Schools and the City of Wilmington to medical practices and car dealers.</p><p>They do not serve residences, however.</p><p>Apparently the work pleases his customers elsewhere – now 7,000 of them with 70,000 separate electric accounts in 23 states.</p><p>Pleasing his customers was his main job when he joined CP&L right out of Virginia Tech. His boss emphasized that.</p><p>"I got a call from my first customer," who said, " 'Listen, I just got the biggest electric bill I've ever had,' " Coughlan recalled. The manager of a water treatment plant in Hendersonville had an electric budget of $12,000 a month and the bill had risen to $16,000.</p><p>He did some statistical modeling and data sampling and came to the conclusion if the water company treated most of its water at night and on weekends, it would save money – $25,000, or two months of bills, it turns out.</p><p>He continued his mission of pleasing the customer to the point his boss asked, "Do you have to please them that much?" It didn't hurt profit enough to keep him from eventually supervising 500 employees at the utility. </p><p>But he was always a "closet entrepreneur," Coughlan said, and started a business when he was still at CP&L.</p><p>"I was always a guy who was developing business plans and coming up with new ideas," he said. "I opened a coin-operated laundry. It did teach me about hiring, firing, payroll taxes, budgeting, utility bills, rents and bookkeeping."</p><p>Coughlan sold the business, left the utility, and broke out on his own, founding Utility Management Services. </p><p>The company now has 40 employees, most of them account managers spread out principally over the Southeast. The company's headquarters are in renovated digs on Oleander Drive near Bradley Creek.</p><p>If the company saves its customers money – it's now up to $100 million over the past 15 years, Coughlan said – how does it make money for itself?</p><p>Revenues come from a percentage of its customers' savings, but the company takes no fee if it can't cut the electric bill.</p><p>Ultility Management Services' accounts have grown 100 fold, Coughlan said. And it plans more growth. It's in the process of hiring four more full-time employees in Wilmington plus independent account managers in the field.</p><p>"We'd like to see 50 people in the next three years and revenues to double over the next five years," Coughlan said.</p><p>So, does the company get push back from the power corporations?</p><p>"A little," Coughlan said with a chuckle. "A little push back, but a pretty positive relationship."</p><p><i></p><p><a href="http://www.starnewsonline.com/section/topic99"><b>Wayne Faulkner</b></a>: 343-2329</p><p>On <a href="http://www.starnewsonline.com/section/news41"><b>Twitter</b></a>: @bizniznews</i></p>